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Rastalian
Rastalian is the umbrella term for the languages used by the Ancient Peoples of the world of Agrinum. It draws from such languages as Latin, Greek, Spanish, English, Sanskrit, Japanese and German, and Welsh. The World of Agrinum Agrinum is a world believed to have been created by Anphia; the culmination of all the energies of the Universe drawn together by the song of Anecuisa, the Goddess of Life, and the crafting of Gaturos, the God of Darkness. In philosophical ideology, Agrinum went through 3 phases: the phase of the Origins, the phase of the Ancients and the phase of the New Era (the present time). The Origins were the first people born from the union of Anphia and Gaia (the spirit of Agrinum). It was said that they were given the language of the Universe, the language spoken by the Gods and that allowed a harnessing of the Universal mana. However, the Origins grew arrogant in their power and eventually war ravaged Agrinum: Gaturos, who had sealed the negative mana of the Universe within himself, released it in his fury of their arrogance, creating the Great Shade that would be the death of the Origins. As Agrinum healed, the Ancient people were born, and despite not gifted with the language of the Universe as the Origins had been, still preserved the ability to weild mana through Song Maidens and Vanguards. How they came to their end, however, is a complete mystery. Very little is actually known of the language of the Origins, which has only been preserved through old tablets and spatterings of Hymns. Likewise, the Ancient language is no longer spoken, but scholars can put together constructed sentences of how it would've been spoken and used. Origin Dialect The Origin Dialect was believed to be the first language, as well as the language of the Universe. Each letter had a specific meaning, and strung together could make another meaning. Particularly used in song magic, a singer could craft meanings out of these words and make a direct impact magically on their environment. Here is a table of the Origin Alphabet, and the assigned meanings of each letter. N/A is assigned to a letter where the meaning is ambiguous. Examples of the usage of Origin Dialect can be found in ancient tablets found in the Rumea Region (from the West Continent), that seem to narrate a creation myth, though research is still undergoing into how the dialect is deconstructed. Standard Arian Dialect The Arian language has six vowels; the typical 'a e i o u' as well as 'n', which is also considered a vowel. In the writing system, how vowels are pronounced are clearly marked: Consonants in the Arian alphabet: 'Pronouns' *The accusative of the 3rd person plural can also appear as "esra" depending upon the dialect preference. Particles [Postpositions/Prepositions] Particles typically come before the object they affect in an SVO sentence. For example, the particle "ot" meaning 'on' is used in this sentence: Che stolle ot stal which means: He sits on the chair Note that the particle 'to' is only ever used in Arian as a preposition rather than as a particle to mark an infinitive verb. For example, it would be used here: Mea meloa to yor (I sing to you) But not here: Mea're harla meloa aria'mea (I will be happy to sing my song) [Note: in written Arian, the verb or noun owned by the pronoun, or the adjective/adverb qualifying the noun/verb can be joined with an apostrophe <'>. This is a common function in written Arian, though is not a rule, and is possibly the influence of older dialects that make Standard Arian] Articles Arian largely goes without articles: 'a flower' is simply relayed as 'flower'. However, in archaic speech, articles such as 'The' are used to emphasise importance and significance. For example; the particle 'bhuh' ('The') would be used to introduce someone of importance: Bhuh Sanche o Temadon (The Lord of Temadon) Or to indicate something of significance or worth: Bhuh crown (The Crown) Sentence Structure Spoken, the Arian Dialect follows a simple SVO structure: Gaturos crafts the world would become: Gaturos gratwa byder Continous Tense To transform a verb into a continuous, the definer 'yn' is appended to the start of a verb: Gaturos is crafting the world. in Arian: Gaturos yn'gratwa byder Past Tense To change this sentence to a past tense, one would appended the definer 'xi' onto the start of a verb: Gaturos crafted the world. would become: Gaturos xi'gratwa byder Perfect Past Tense Gaturos had crafted the world. in Arian the definer 'xat' is appended to the start of a verb: Gaturos xat'gratwa byder Future Tense Gaturos will craft the world in Arian, the definer 'ah' is appended to the start of a verb: Gaturos ah'gratwa byder Passive Voice In Arian, to change a verb into passive voice, the definer 'nyhi' is appended to the start of a verb: I'm embracing the light (Mea yn'colweia lucia) becomes: I'm being embraced by the light. Mea nyhi'yn'colweia lucia) Negative Form To change a sentence into a negative, the definer 'uw' is added before a verb: Gaturos crafts the world (Gaturos gratwa byder) becomes Gaturos doesn't craft the world (Gaturos uw gratwa byder) Note, that the definer 'uw' appended to the end of a verb transforms the word into it's antonym. gratwa'uw would make it mean: to destroy as opposed to the original meaning of 'gratwa' which means 'to craft'. This is relevant to all verbs. Noun Ownership Placing two nouns together means that one noun owns the other. There is no rule for direction of ownership, so it is inferred from context: Gaturos sanctum (Gaturos's Sanctum) meloa mea (My lullaby) Ownership can also be indicated by the presence of the partcile 'o'. When it's used, the noun that comes before it is "owned" by the noun that comes after it. meloa o rym Lullaby of the Dragons The use of the 'o' particle is most common in formal speech as an introduction to a title;i.e. 'Sanche o Temadon' (Lord of Temadon) and thus the absence of any particle at all is the most common in spoken Arian. Adjectives An adjective is always placed before the noun/verb it affects: Kalia falora (a pretty flower) Che rapita druta (He runs fast) Adverbs An adverb is often put before the verb or adjective it affects: Che waer talle (He is very tall) In this example, the verb 'vas' (to be) is not used. In spoken and prosaic Arian, the 'to be' verb can be ommitted in simple statements such as the above. In formal speech however, 'to be' would not be ommitted. In Arian, adverbs of manner are often formed by adding the suffix '-yat'. For example: She kaliayat balau (She smiles prettily) Quantity/Plurals In Arian, to indicate a plural of something, the definer 'se' is appended to the pluralised noun: Mea brajose (My arms) However, 'se' would not be used in the case of indicating an indeterminate quantity of a noun. For this, the definer 'qua' is appended to the noun intended. For example: Fahar'qua (The birds) Numbers *'Nel '= 0 *'Nnoi' = 1 *'Del' = 2 *'Troa' = 3 *'Quat' = 4 *'Zaq' = 5 *'Ix' = 6 *'Set' = 7 *'Oct' = 8 *'Nef' = 9 *'Diz' = 10 *'Duaz' = 100 *'Droz' = 1000 *'Draziz' = 10000 Note: when a number is a subject (such as 'the tenth year') 'at' is appended to the number (or 'yot' if the word ends with a vowel): 'Dizat' = tenth 'Nnoiyot'= first Advanced Song Grammar DICTIONARY Category:Languages Category:Musical Dialects